I was recommended a change a while ago: swap the internal HDD in an ageing Macbook Pro to a SSD. My MBP is a mid 2009 machine. Why would one want to do that you may ask? My reason: only because I was not using the MBP on a regular basis while I am on my iMac over 10 hours a day, every day. I only occassionally use the MBP to make the odd presentation to a client, or if I am on the move. I also only use it for a few routine programmes. I had already upgraded the RAM to 8 GB back in 2011. The machine however was slowing down, which was why I was recommended the swap.
Having had a very pleasant experience with OWC for my iMac (upgraded both RAM and the HDD to an SSD), I automatically came to OWC. They shipped the 500 GB SSD Kit I requested. It arrived by Courier and not through USPS like the last time. The service was efficient. Customs duty and charges of about 30% in Colombia was annoying. If only OWC had provided me with a way to give them a Customs Import Code, I would have had to pay a lesser amount as duty because it was computer parts that I was importing, and lesser duties would apply – at least at the current moment. A little box in the OWC ordering process for buyer's instructions will be helpful.
The process of swapping the HDD with the SSD was easy, thanks to the good video provided by OWC. It was just a 15 minute job for even a Newbie like me. Installing the Operating System was a challenge. Not due to any shortcoming on the part of OWC; it was actually Apple's fault. The Validation Certificate date in the software is incorrect and needs to be corrected through a Terminal Screen process. I was fortunate to have found this sound piece of advice on the Internet: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250793420 I owe a big thank you to JMaiers. Once that was done, the rest of the installation was a breeze.
Apple's Migration Assistant is a nifty piece of software and the migration of applications, files and data was easy. I now have a MBP that boots up in 30 seconds instead of 15 minutes. The programmes load and work much faster. Thank you OWC.